Chair.



No. 745,104. PATENTED, NOV. 24, 1903. G. H. HERSEY.

CHAIR.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 1, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

UNITED STATESY atented November 24, 1903.

CHAIR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 745,104, dated November 24, 1903.

Application filed July l, 1903. Serial No. 163,970. (No model.) Y

To a/ZZ whom it wty concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE Il. ITERsEY, a citizen of Canada, and a residentof Hartford, in the county of Hartford and-State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Chairs, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

This invention relates to chairs, and more especially to that class thereof which are ordinarily known as swinging or rocking7 chairs; and it has for one of its objects the provision of an article of this kind in` which the motion of the ordinary rocking-chair will be obtained with regularity and ease.

My invention has, furthermore, for its object the organization between the seat and its support in such manner that the movement of the seat will be similar to that of the rocker, and yet be combined with that of a swing.

Hy invention has, furthermore, for its object the combination, with the chair-seat, of a foot-rest which is movable with the seat, but the movement of which is greater than that of the seat, vso that the latter on account of its leverage may serve as an actuator to set the chair in motion. Vhile this feature has in itself been in use heretofore, my invention comprises a novel linkage whereby the foot-rest is supported and which will result in guiding the foot-rest, so as to obviate the rise and fall movement thereof when the chair is in motion, and consequently do away with the usual rise and fall of the knees of the occupant. In other words, the linkage is so designed that the position of the kneejoint of a person in the chair will remain substantially constant relative to the seat, the only movement taking place being that of bending and straightening out the knee.

Further objects of my invention may be found in the particular construction of some of the components of my improved device, as will be hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which similar characters denote similar parts, Figure 1 is a front view of a chair embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a side view thereof, and Fig. 3 is a detail illustrating one of the joints.

As above stated, it is the aim of my present invention to produce a chair in which the easv motion of a swing shall be combined with the seat movement of the rocking-chair, thus obviating in a high degree the nauseous sensation to which many persons are addicted when occupying a swing in motion. On the other hand, it is well known that the action of setting a rocking-chair in motion is apt to become tiresome, inasmuch as a comparatively strong push will have to be exerted with the feet against the floor or carpet, which is apt to show signs of wear in consequence. Hence I deem it of great advantage to provide a chair in which the seat movement will be similar to that of a rocker and which will avoid the objections above enumerated.

In the drawings, 10 10 denote a pair of standards disposed at opposite sides of a seat 11, which may be of any desired design or construction. Near their lower ends the standards 10 are properlydistanced bya girder 12, secured thereto in any convenient manner. Each of the standards 10 is in the present instance stiffened by a brace 13, the lower ends of which rest on and are secured to extension 12- of the girder 12, while their upper ends may be secured to the standards by bolts, (indicated at 14.)

The front edge of the seat 11 is supported by a pair of links 15, attached thereto at 16 and pivotally supported with their upper ends on the standards 10, as at a, and substantially in the manner shown in Fig. 3, in which the link 15 is shown provided with a trunnionbracket 17, the shank 18 of which enters a hub 19 of a head-casting 20, which may be secured to the standard 10as, for instance, by screws 21. The standard, which is preferably made of hard and tough wood, is counterbored at 22 to afford room for a nut 23, in engagement with the threaded portion 18 of the shank 18 and which serves to retain the parts properly together.

The rear edge of the seat is supported by a pair of links 25, attached thereto at 26, and pivoted at their upper ends to the standards 10, as shown at b, the construction of theA IOO 26 will fall until the link 25 is perpendicular, and that subsequently the point 26 will also rise, but for a smaller amount than the ascent ofthe point 16, so that the rearward movement of the seat around the pivots a and l) will result in tilting the chair, as indicated by the dashline position shown. On the other hand, when the seat 11 is moved forward to the position shown by the dot-and-dash line in Fig. 2 the point 26 will rise farther than the point 16, so that the seat l1 will be tilted in the other direction, this tilting movement being similar and corresponding to that of the ordinary rocking-chair.

As above stated,it is one of the objects of my invention to provide a foot-rest the movement of which with the seat shall be such as to obviate the rise and fall motion of the knee of the occupant, and I accomplish this result by the organization shown in Fig. 2. Here the links 25 are shown having extensions 25', the lower ends of which carry at 25 the rear ends of a frame comprising a pair of side bars 30 and a front bar 8l, the front portion of the frame being supported by links 32, pivoted at 33 to the bars 30 and suspend ed at their upper ends on the chair-supports 16, and it will be understood that the travel of the bar 31 will of course be greater than that of the seat in the ratio of the distance between points Z9 25 and Z926, respectively. Furthermore, the distance between the points 33 and 25/l is greater than the distance between the points 16 and 26,whence it follows that as the point 25" rises during the rearward movement of the seat the pivot 33 will at first descend and then rise in such amanner as to leave the knee of the occupant undisturbed, and therefore avoiding all rise and fall movement thereof. Likewise during the forward movement of the seat 1l the front bar 33 will be moved forward and upward, but in a path which corresponds substantially to an arc, having the lower limb of the occupant as its radius and his knee-joint as a center, thus leaving the relative position of the knee and seat undisturbed, as may be seen by a comparison of the points indicated by K K' K, which denote the joint of the knee in connection with the normal forward and rearward positions of the' seat, respectively.

The chair as illustrated in the drawings may be used in the house as well as for the garden or the veranda,and,if desired,a canopy or awning may be provided and secured to a rod 40, extending between the head-castings 2O and serving as an additional stiffening-rod for the standards 10.

Many changes may be made in the formation and construction of the several parts without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim isl l. The combination, with a seat, and a pair of standards disposed at opposite sides of said seat; of links pivoted to said standards above the seat and for supporting the same, and having extensions beyond the seat-supporting points; a foot-rest comprising a frame pivoted with its rear end on said extensions, and means for supporting the front end of said frame at a point the distance of which from the ,rear supporting-'point is greater than the distance between the suspensionpoints on the seat.

2. The combination, with a seat, and a pair of standards disposed at opposite sides of said seat 5 of a pair of links for supporting the front end of said seat; a pair of links for supporting the rear ends of said seat and having extensions beyond the supporting-points; a foot-rest comprising a frame pivoted with its rear end on said. extensions, and links pivoted on the seat and for supporting the front end of said frame, the distance between the support-points on the frame being greater than that between the suspension-points on the seat.

The combination, with a seat, and a pair of standards disposed at opposite sides thereof; of a pair of links pivoted on said standards and supporting the front end of said seat; a pair of links pivoted on said standards and supporting the rear ends of said seat and having extensions beyond the seatsupporting points; a 'foot-rest comprising a frame pivoted at its rear end on said extensions; and links pivoted on the seat and for supporting the front end of said frame, the distance between the points of support on the frame being greater than that between the points of suspension on the seat.

4. rlhe combination, with a seat, and a pair of standards disposed at opposite sides thereof; of links pivoted on said standards and supporting the front end of the seat; a pair of links pivoted on said standards and supporting the rear end of the seat at points intermediate their ends, the distance between the pivots of said links being greater than that between the seat-supporting points; a foot-rest comprising a frame pivoted with its rear end on the rear seat-supporting links; and links pivoted on the seat and for supporting the front end of the frame, the distance between the support points on the frame being greater than that between the suspension-points on the seat.

GEORGE H. HERSEY.

lVitnesses:

OHAs. F. SCHMELZ, J. J. LooNEY. 

